


Party Platter Parasite

by softgrungeprophet



Series: A loosely connected timeline [1]
Category: Venom (Comics)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Food, Gen, No Plot/Plotless, Other, Pet Names, i dedicate several entire paragraphs to describing eddie making his dinner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-08-08 20:40:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16436405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softgrungeprophet/pseuds/softgrungeprophet
Summary: A moment of downtime and domesticity, a little while before Eddie's hair returned to its grungy, classic length but at least a few months grown out from that godawful crew cut.Set sometime post-First Host.





	Party Platter Parasite

"I need a haircut."

**Why?**

The thought buzzed in the back of Eddie's mind, all innocent curiosity, inquisitive and prodding.

Eddie sighed. "It gets in my eyes, love." He let a fallen strand of hair dangle loose, and when pulled taut, it brushed against his cheek. "See?" He pushed it back out of his face as he stood, and made his way over to the window. Small, overlooking the city. A grimy glass square. Outside, a streetlamp flickered fitfully in the growing dark of the burnt summer sky.

 **Tickles**.

Such a simple statement, but—"Yes." Eddie couldn't help but smile.

 **Look like trouble, Eddie. Like a bad boy**.

"What?"

A sort of... trilling reverberation laced up Eddie's spine—they'd been together so many times and for long enough that Eddie knew the symbiote was laughing.

 **Bad boy like on TV**.

Ah.

"Leather jacket, greasy hair, nothing to lose?"

 **Yes, Eddie**.

"So, does that mean you're opposed to me shaving it off in the bathroom?"

Darkness oozed out of Eddie's pores, along his forearms and the backs of his hands. Goosebumps-turned-shadows-turned playful space slime as his other manifested hands to lace their fingers together. Eddie raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.

Hesitation, and then— **Like Eddie always**.

"But...?"

 **...Like to play with hair, also**.

As if in demonstration, a little tendril reached out from their shared skin to tuck Eddie's hair behind his ear. It wasn't quite long enough to work well, but the intent came through clear enough, even as it stuck out strangely. Eddie brought his hands up in loose fists and kissed the black between his fingers, softly. He caught self-satisfaction and affection in the back of his brain. His symbiote formed itself from his palms, small and round, iridescent white eyespots bubbling to the surface—it bumped sweetly against his nose and mouth. If Eddie didn't know any better, he would have expected it to purr as it rubbed against his face.

"You're awfully affectionate today, darling."

A mouthful of fangs split the symbiote's flesh into a wide grin.

Several minutes passed with them together—Eddie's other half coiling around his shoulders as they watched the streets below, absentmindedly. Every once in a while the symbiote yawned big, pink tongue lolling out and teeth alternately sprouting and receding along its mouth or what passed for such. Truly a strange being... but endearing, in the way its mass shifted; how the white patches on its face imperceptibly transformed, silhouetting a heart between its eyes. Whether purposeful or simply coincidental, Eddie did not know.

He pushed away from the window. The light from his dingy apartment glared off it too much to see well anyway.

He could work out; he could run; he could do pushups, or lift weights.

His stomach growled.

Instead of any of those things, he pulled a mostly clean saucepan from the cupboard and set it on the stove, tendrils of black inching their way along his bicep as he moved in the tiny kitchen. Lukewarm water from the sink, a pre-prepared hot chocolate mix made with powdered goat milk, and—set aside—a handful of other ingredients. The water, he let sit slowly heating, whisking in a few tablespoons of cocoa mix. As that warmed, he pulled out the blender.

In went a couple of tablespoons of almond butter, some protein powder, a squeeze of chocolate syrup for good measure, and a tablespoon or two of hemp seeds. The hot chocolate having gotten, well... hot, went in as well, and he ran the whole thing on high, grateful for the only expensive thing he owned... Motor powerful enough to keep the contents hot, and everything smooth as butter...

Goosebumps pricked at the back of his neck and he murmured, "Patience, darling."

Into a mug, and one last thing—a spoonful of honey, stirred to melt into his hot chocolate protein shake.

He probably could have included some silken tofu for extra protein and phenylalanine, but too late to consider the could-haves. Eddie grabbed a party platter from the fridge—stacked with club crackers, salami, cheese, olives—and took a seat on his ratty bed.

Maybe not the most balanced meal, but... it pleased his significant other without subjecting his body to cannibalism, or salmonella.

Or raw egg. God, he didn't know how those gym-rats could do it. Protein powder, sure, but _raw_ _eggs_? Eddie, for all the bodybuilding he did, couldn't stand it. Nauseating, even if Venom liked them.

 **Unrefined taste. Cowardly host won't even eat raw beef**.

Eddie made a face as he drank his—their—hot chocolate and flipped on the TV, more for his precious other's enjoyment than anything else. He let the melodrama of awful medical soap operas lull him into a lethargic state, and barely noticed when he'd finished off the entire cheese platter in addition to their hot cocoa. He finally snapped to attention with his head halfway in the fridge, freshly emptied carton of soymilk in hand.

"Honey." Voice gentle, Eddie crushed the waxed cardboard between his palms. Tossed it into the recycling bin—really a milk crate—under the sink. "Darling. Sweetheart. My dearest love."

The symbiote buzzed innocently under his skin.

 **We were thirsty**.

Eddie sighed. But he smiled, fondness in the edges of his expression.

He'd have to go grocery shopping again.

**Author's Note:**

> The protein shake hot chocolate is loosely based on this recipe: [link](https://katefruitflowers.com/blogs/recipes/hot-chocolate-protein-shake). I do not know if it's good; I hate the taste of protein additives, so I probably wouldn't try it anyway.
> 
> I looked at a list of foods (other than chocolate) rich in phenethylamine and its source, phenlyalanine, to decide what Eddie ate for dinner. Turns out salami is up there... (legumes, too.) I almost had Eddie just eat a stick of salami but decided against it lol. Charcuterie board is much more appealing as a meal.
> 
> Sure, the best approach is probably just to let Venom slam some supplements but that's not as enjoyable as, say, hot chocolate or like..... a runny fried egg, or whatever. There is SATISFACTION in food and in eating food, you know?! Anyway I'm sure Eddie's gotta eat too.
> 
> Plus, eating stuff with the phenylalanine is one way your body gets phenethylamine, according to the 5 seconds of research I did. So, you know. I totally have reasons for my choices other than, "I just like writing about food, man." (I don't have reasons other than that, but I do think it's cute for Eddie to make himself food that will please both himself and his S.O.)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed :3 As always, lemme know if you think it's missing a tag or something.
> 
> As a completely unrelated aside, I recently saw the new Venom movie (after motoring through a bunch of the comics last week) and it was a delight!!! Very funny, very fun, I loved it.


End file.
